The racy sprinter Tevez (s/s 104) got the weekend’s top figure when winning a Pinnacle Stakes on his comeback. He is proven at Grade 1 level so his victory was expected. Two “under the radar” horses to take out of the race for future reference is Buckinghampshire (s/s 100) and Northern Corner (s/s 100). The former was a very good juvenile (beating Seventh Plain in the juvenile race on Met day) before losing the plot. A rest and gelding may have worked wonders as the son of Lonhro ran vastly better after having been “banished” to PE in late 2015. Northern Corner produced an eye-catching finish towards the outer, which was against a track bias that favoured horses towards the inside of the Kenilworth straight.
Big King (s/s 98) is a consistent sprinter despite some physical issues. He first flashed ability ages ago when earning a strong speed figure at the last Clairwood meeting behind another subsequent multiple winner, Tripandie. He defeated Sister Cosmos (s/s 95) and the dependable Fire the Rocket (s/s 93) at Friday night’s Greyville Poly meeting.
Odds on shot Gogetthesheriff got done in by the slow pace in the final leg of the Eastern Cape Poly challenge. He still produced a powerful late dart but could not pass Jet Explorer and Ochoncar. Jet Explorer nearly died after a bad fall, with Richard Fourie at Clairwood, which smashed his jaw, so this triumph was a well-deserved success. The former top performer was placed in the Queens Plate in his prime, and is now regaining his confidence against lesser opposition in the care of Justin Snaith.
The Snaiths added another feature trophy when Captain Splendid won Sunday’s East Cape Derby from favourite Welsh Emperor, and quality juvenile Oomph (s/s 87 +) stayed perfect when winning the Dahlia Plate by a pole for Alan Greeff. Best figure on the day belonged to Summer Cruise (s/s 100) who has done well since relocating to PE. The lightly weighted Sail from Seattle filly can be very zippy and she proved too quick for Eros’s Girl (s/s 95) whilst also leaving fancied rivals Acaciawood and Blizzard Belle in her wake.